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What's black and white and dialled all over? Apple's iPhone is the easy answer, but that may no longer be the (multi-coloured) case in just a few short weeks.

Purportedly leaked photos showing next-generation iPhones packaged in a new plastic shell may confirm what's been rumoured for some time — that Apple is breaking away from the two-tone colour scheme long used for its flagship device and rolling out a new wave of iPhones that will come in a rainbow of colours.

Indeed, 9to5Mac spotted some images of what appear to be new handsets labeled "iPhone 5C" and sporting pink or red cases with matching wallpaper.

Those photos first appeared on the Chinese-language site iApps.im and could show a lower-priced, plastic-backed, sans-Siri smartphone which Apple is rumoured to be releasing later this month alongside a full-priced follow-up to the iPhone 5.

Some more photos turned on iApps.im, as noted by MacRumors, showing iPhone 5Cs with blue and yellow cases, as well as a couple in traditional white.

Meanwhile, a snapshot of what's purported to be a green iPhone 5C in its plastic packaging showed up on another Chinese-language site, C Technology, which also published what it claimed was a hands-on video showing the rumoured smartphone running Safari on iOS 7.

Is the video legit? MacRumors had some doubts about that.

"The shape and two-tone colour of the phone are consistent with previous leaks, although the low-resolution video and lack of any views other than from the front make it difficult to assess whether it is indeed a legitimate iPhone 5C or another device wrapped in a coloured bumper or shell," the tech site noted.

The Cupertino-based firm is expected to unveil its next-gen smartphones at the aforementioned 10 September event, so we shouldn't have long to wait to find out whether or not all of that gossip adds up to the truth.